Top 20 most underrated UK beaches

Avoid the crowds this summer at these beautiful but lesser-known British beaches

Sun, sea and sand: the golden trio of ingredients essential for any Great British summer holiday. The first we can’t help you with (just cross your fingers and hope), but this year, more than ever, we need to do our research to find the perfect spot of sand and sea for our holidays and weekends away. Instead of overwhelming classic tourist honeypot beaches, many of us will be casting our net a little wider to get the same experience, but in a more secluded, less-frequented location.

Enter CV Villas, who has done the hard work for us and analysed nearly 3,000 beaches across Europe and the UK to reveal the lesser-known but best-reviewed beaches to visit post-lockdown (Full list here.) The winner, according to TripAdvisor data, is Traigh Lingeigh Beach on North Uist in Scotland, the only beach in Europe to have 100% excellent reviews.

Indeed Scotland pops up again and again – it’s the country with the most underrated beaches in the UK – and they’re not all as remote as Traigh Lingeigh in the Outer Hebrides. Aberdeenshire and Sutherland also pop up a fair few times on the top 20 list, as well as England’s Northumberland, a county better known for its castles. It’s time to knock Cornwall down a few notches on your list of seaside destination and consider going up north this year instead.

The top 20 most underrated UK beaches (based on the percentage of reviews which are excellent)

1. Traigh Lingeigh Beach (North Uist, Hebrides, Scotland) – 100%
2. Newburgh Seals Beach (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) – 92.6%
3. Oldshoremore Beach (Sutherland, Scotland) – 91.5%
4. Embleton Bay (Northumberland, England) – 90.5%
5. Ross Back Sands Beach (Northumberland, England) – 90.2%
6. Kiloran Beach (Colonsay, Scotland) – 90%
7. Sandwood Bay (Kinlochbervie, Scotland) – 89.9%
8. Traigh Bhostadh (Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland) – 89.8%
9. Scarista Beach (Harris, Hebrides, Scotland) – 89.8%
10. Camusdarach Beach (Arisaig, Scotland) – 89.4%
11. Porthcressa Beach (Isles of Scilly, England) – 89.3%
12. Bamburgh Beach (Northumberland, England) – 88.3%
13. Machir Beach (Islay, Scotland) – 88.1%
14. Huisinis Beach (Isle of Harris, Scotland) – 88%
15. Marloes Sands Beach (Marloes, Wales) – 87.8%
16. Embo Beach (Embo, Scotland) – 87.5%
17. Polin Beach (Sutherland, Scotland) – 87.5%
18. Lundy Bay (Cornwall, England) – 87.5%
19. Markse Sands Beach (Yorkshire, England) – 87.2%
20. Dalmore Beach (Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland) – 86.7%